A new Chinese emergency aid programme has delivered its first shipment of rice to Cuba, which faces worsening food and fuel shortages amid a tightened US blockade that has halted Venezuelan oil shipments.
Under the programme, China will send 30,000 tonnes of rice to the island nation, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency. The first shipment was handed over on Monday, while a second batch has arrived at the Port of Santiago de Cuba.
Additional deliveries are expected to leave China soon.
Citing shipping data and internal documents from Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA, Reuters reported on Saturday that Caracas had not sent crude oil or refined fuel to the island for about a month. It said cargo had decreased due to American sanctions even before the US abducted former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in early January.
Shipping records show that PDVSA’s last shipment of refined products left Venezuela’s Puerto Jose in mid-December. The tanker involved reportedly switched off its transponder while carrying about 600,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude.
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